NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) – New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency on Friday in response to the thousands of migrants bussed into the city in recent months from the southern US border in a political dispute over border security.
The city expects to spend $1 billion to handle the influx of migrants, Adams said in a speech at City Hall. More than 17,000 have arrived in New York since April; an average of five or six buses each day since early September, with nine buses arriving in the city on Thursday, said Adams, a Democrat, straining the city’s homeless shelter system.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican seeking a third term in November’s US midterm elections, has flown more than 3,000 migrants to New York. Adams criticized Abbott for not alerting city officials when they sent migrants into the city, calling it a “manufactured crisis.”
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Abbott’s moves are part of a high-profile campaign by him and the Republican governors of Florida and Arizona to highlight record crossings at the US-Mexico border ahead of the midterm elections. They argue that US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has failed to adequately secure the border.
Abbott has also flown more than 900 people to Chicago, while Texas and Arizona combined have flown more than 10,000 migrants to Washington, DC.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican seen as a possible 2024 presidential candidate, recently brought a group of about 50 migrants to the wealthy enclave of Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. Those on board the plane said they were tricked. Read more
Democrats have called the moves political stunts and accuse governors of using people as pawns.
Many of the migrants sent to New York are Venezuelans, whom the United States cannot deport to Mexico under a policy related to COVID-19 as it can other migrants.
The Democratic-controlled city of El Paso has flown roughly 7,000 migrants to New York since late August, though city leaders say they are coordinating with New York officials. Read more
The surge in arrivals has set a record for the number of people in New York shelters.
“While our compassion is limitless, our resources are not,” Adams said, calling for support from the federal and state governments. “We are on the edge of a precipice.”
The state of emergency will make it easier for city agencies to coordinate their response more quickly, Adams said.
Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington, DC, declared a state of emergency in that city last month, creating a new office to handle incoming migrants. Read more
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Reporting by Joseph Axe, additional reporting by Kristina Cooke. Editing by Alistair Bell
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